A television content provider may transmit television content to customer premises using, for example, a television signal transmitted over coaxial cable or fiber optic connections. The television signal may include a modulated signal that contains television content corresponding to a number of television channels. A set-top box (STB) or other device, at the customer premises, may receive the television signal and extract the particular television channel in which the customer is interested. For example, when directed to tune to a particular channel, the STB may decode the particular channel by: extracting the particular channel from the television signal (e.g., by demodulating the television signal), decoding the particular channel, and outputting the particular channel as a signal that is displayable by a television connected to the STB.
Some STBs may include the ability to pause the playback of a television channel. In response to a user selecting to pause a particular television channel, the STB may continue to decode the channel, but may save the decoded version of the television content in a buffer (e.g., a buffer implemented using a hard drive or other storage medium). When the user unpauses the television channel, the STB may read from the buffer to output a version of the television channel that is shifted in time (i.e., due to the pause) but that, from the perspective of the user, provides uninterrupted viewing of a television channel.